Spray Can Advice
 

My shop teacher won't let us paint our cars in class. Even if we bring the paint, we still can't do it.:icon_tdow

Since i don't have a paint gun or the necessary safety equipment, I'm left with spray paint

I going to spray can my 87 Rx-7 white with the black trim; because I like the flat finish for some reason.

The only place I have to paint is my driveway.

Question 1: How will I protect the basecoat?
Reason: Is there clearcoat in a spraycan?

Question 2: How long will this take?
Reason: weather conditions

I appreciate the support!

P.S. I have plastic filler and glaze for my dent, also sandpaper.

Feel free to post pics of your rattle can projects.

my advice
1. drive way is not a good place to spray can. you will waste A LOT of paint..... set up a place indoor if you can....
2. there is clear coat you can spray. however, to get a good clear coat will require A LOT of layer.
3. if you need to spray...do it on a windless day, under the shade, best in the summer. the paint will drip if it is not dry fast enough.
4. use atleast 1200 grid sandpaper to get a smooth feeling.
5. prime it really good, clean it the really good before you spray paint.
6. if all fail.. prime the car really good, and take it to maaco. they paint really cheap...but they dont clean and prep really well.
7. if still really want to spray...it may take a long time due to multiple layer..

hope this help

I hope you like an uneven finish too, because that's what you're going to get.

it would be easier to buy a compressor, spray gun, and some paint, you will need like 20 cans to spray your car, and it won't flow very nicely.
also, spraying outside blows because you will get so much stuff landing in your paint. it also needs to be relatively warm outside, but not hot or cold

But if you are hellbent on doing it,
Spray the basecoat, sand out all the stuff that landed in your paint with 400+ grit, then clearcoat, and sand out the stuff that lands in the clearcoat with 1500+ and then polish it..it will probably turn out decent that way. also buy one of those little things that attaches to the spray gun that has a trigger...

no spray cans!

if your really mind set on super budget, alot of honda guys do the roll on paint
http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1555133

better yet, i hear spraying that through a air compressor gets pretty good results. Some guys have done it and came out pretty good wiht solid colors.

might want to check this method out...

http://carpainting.wetpaint.com/page...+Method?t=anon

and/or

http://rollyourcar.com/default.aspx

I spray canned cars plenty of times....here's a link to what I did to mine over xmas break. I just painted the front purp/blk.
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/blog-91-coupe-drift-time-attack-build-up-546629/page11/

I still got plenty more to do. I haven't buffed or wet sanded after I painted but it's aight for $15. But the advice given so far is good. Do it indoors, clean area, etc. The thing to focus on is PREP! Don't rush the prep work or it won't look good. If you don't know how to spray well with a can then practice otherwise it'll be uneven. Well, goodluck.

Balls to a 3 day (not including prep work) roller job. Go to home depot and purchase clear .5mill tarping material. Frame out an area (2x4s, old pipe, You live in oklahoma..so there has to be an old barn to dissasemble somewhere) big enough to pull a car into and still move around it. Borrow a buddies air compressor, Purchase gun at home depot too, husky for like 80 bucks. Also cop an inline dryer from harborfreight.com. Borrow window fans for exhaust from somebody you dont like.

now for 180.00 or so you are set up (semi proper) and where you would have started with the roll on deoderant job. Buy cheaper nason materials and learn. Continue practicing and fixing friends dents and shooting fenders....ultimately buying better gun, air compressor and networking to shoot under better conditions. If you are willing to take the time to learn, this can be a decent side buisiness...especially with the way highschool kids drive.

john ny

No spray cans OR rollers. They are both garbage. I have done both. Don't even attempt the roller trick. It starts to dry as you roll it and the roller gets all stuck to the paint and pulls it off and it's just a big mess and lots of wasted time and money from there. Flat rattle can is temporary while you do bodywork or if the paint is just absolute crap with 10 colors. DO NOT SAND DOWN A PERFECTLY GOOD PAINT JOB TO RATTLE CAN IT!! That crap pisses me off. You'll hate yourself later after everyone makes fun of you for having a spray painted car.

just take it to maaco
it will last about a year, and maybe look good for that wohle year. Then next year you sand it and prep it and take it to them again.
They just suck at prepping.

prep yourself, then take to maaco for color coating and clear if your lacking resources and a venue for painting. Over all you might be spending 500-700 bucks total for a decent job with you preping and them painting.

Some people hate it and others love it. I don't know what it is, but a flat black paint job is the coolest look ever. Especially if you have nice rims. I made the mistake of going with glossy black on my first spray paint job, and it looked ok, but very uneven. Flat black stays preatty even.

^^^^Yup.... I am a huge fan of flat black too. He will still need to assemble a ghettobooth and prep and shoot it like any 2 stage job. I am not a fan of sanded down stock paint with rattle can flat black.......looks like a crackhead mad max MOST of the time.

john ny

Yeah, make sure you prep very well, and have a good place to do it. If you have a garage, use the plastic stuff to make yourself a ghetto paint booth in the garage, and put a few coats on. Take your time too, if you get tired, you may get sloppy.

$200 at maaco right now if you are really that cheap.

You will spend that much in spray cans figuring that you need a dozen and half cans to do both the primer, base color and clear coat. If you absolutely have to go that route, then get your paint from here: http://www.automotivetouchup.com/ where it is real automotive grade paint, and real automotive urethane clear coat in a spray can (http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spray_paint.asp), not some home depot special paint designed to paint a deck chair.

But a rattle can paint job (even one with a flat black color) will always look like a rattle can paint job.

And don't forget a real breather mask, no matter what you do. DO NOT use the cheap disposable dust masks for protecting your lungs when spraying, they just won't protect you from getting black lung... so that will add another $20-$100.

^ oh yes im ordering some paint from them

painting in your driveway is not that great on the environment either man, dont do a driveway job. maaco did an awesome job on my old rx and it was only a couple hundred bucks.

go buy some books read them, slowly buy the tooling from someplace like harbor freight, use real auto paint, do the prep yourself take your time practice painting on your buddies pile for free make them buy the stuff once you get the technique down for good color sateration and coverage your ready to do it up now be good and go study like a good little boy and someday you will understand the mistery of squirting paint like a pro

Just get a real paint job.

http://fotski.com/oscommerce/images/...NS20022078.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...7005-2-3ww.jpg

flat and satin finishes can look pretty awesome. Those ninjas that came in "candy flat raw plasma blue" are fantastic.

OK, there aren't any barns that I can drive my car into with them falling down. I've seen the results the roller job and it looks decent from a distance. Same as the rattle can. I found a paint gun, but I think I need a rebuild kit for it. My compressor is fine, and everyone in my class got paint masks for free.

Heres the rough draft:

Make space in my garage for my car.
Use some sort of tarp to make an indoor tent/ paintbooth
Put a 2 fans and house filter at garage door to make a side draft paintbooth/ fresh air for me.
Prep outside than roll in and starting shooting.

Edit this is it needs to be.

Oh, my paint scheme is white with the black trim. My shop teacher is talking to some of his shop friends to try to give me a discount because of how serious I was on painting my car soon, but if I can't, then I'm going to do what I can. My estimate at a really good local bodyshop was $880 because it was "custom".

^^^I still recomend doing it yourself, to gain the skills. Materials with discount should be maybe 400, giving you some left over primer, thinner, reducer, activator and clear. This will enable you to just buy color for random jobs. Then charge for materials you used and re-up on them + more and price for the job. You will always come out ahead.

Your plans seem accurate. I would still construct the booth outside if your garage is attached to your house, though.

Post pictures as you begin to put this plan into action.

john ny

Not that great on the environment?? Where do you think the paint goes in a professional booth? Through a vent into the atmosphere.

Anyway... Buy a gallon of single stage paint from Napa, reducer, and primer for around $120. Rent an air compressor from Home Depot for $25. Buy a spray gun for $50 from Napa. Spray it in the best place you can find at home. Garage with the door open to vent, under a car port, in a driveway under a shade tree that doesn't shed.

Your really not going to get top notch results, but if luck is on your side with great weather and a shade tree you can actually get a pretty nice paint job. Stuff CAN fall into it. Flash showers CAN occur. Will you always get a crappy paint job in a driveway? No... but it may not be perfect. I've painted outside quite a few times and never really had any issues. You can buy a clear coat to throw over the single stage for around $120.

^^ Thats why I'm going to attach an air filter to one of the two fans, so my garage will recirculate clean air. Since the recent ice storm, under a shaded tree is out of the question because some of the big branches are just hanging and fall at unpredictable timing. The weather outside for the forecast will be from around 50-60 to 60-65. I have a big compressor, i don't know the dimensions but its the size of 2 standard propane tanks that go into a grill. I'm having a hard time think of were to construct this temporary paint booth because, my garage can fit two cars, but we have an 67 jag that I REALLY don't want to get overspray on. my shed is 6"too small for my car, but my backyard is a 1acre square plain that I could make. How about this, at the church I go to for Boy scouts, I can borrow a wall tent that I know for sure my car can fit in; use some tarp I have so I don't ruin the fabric, and to "the buisness there"? Shouldn't be just as effective? Also, I don't have any ideal place to store the paint and the other included items.

there u go
back yard + tent + compressor that u already have
buy a couple gallon of paint and a gun

start working on ur car and post pic already
why u still typing in front of ur computer.

^^^^Cant argue with that....... jump into it and learn. Dont forget the inline dryer (ask me how i know) water and primer aren't that good of friends. I got to go to sleep....jesus.

john ny

I'm waiting until the weekend. I'm waking up early to do some scout stuff and take tent, and my rx7 is scheduled for new tires, springs, and brakes while I can still use a rack, and while I'm out, I have to pick up the supplies. Its going to be fun, but what stinks is that I promised to pick my friend up from work at 9pm, I know for sure nothing is going to be cured by then. It will be a big day. I appreciate all the help and support you guys did. If I fail, I got a 60% discount at the shop that said my paint job is $880; courtesy of my shop teacher.

You wont fail if you take all the necessary precautions to a decent conditioned paint job. "Final wash" is your friend.

If there is a chance of rain, go hiking or something.......dnt even attempt to shoot the car that day.

Good luck....you will do just fine.

john ny

Not in clean air states... maybe in the South where you live, but most clean air states have very very specific requirements for filtering and disposing and even of the paint type used.

In fact the paint used in the BMW plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina is now water borne to prevent gassing of any VOCs into the atmosphere and most states now specify that paint/body shops can only use VLVOC paint.

We don't have VOC restrictions yet, we can use both until we do

ha! compressor hose broke, it rained, tent fell down, I left my camera outside. Its wet, dead and won't work. My car's bodywork needs to be redone, and I need to reprimer it. Wow this stinks. I needed this painted soon, and I blew it. Sorry to let down all the pro painters and bodymen, but now my only choice is to wait until a sunny day and try out the roller paint job until I can try this again on a better day.
Man, I was on a roll. Eh, I read a bunch on that Rustoleum paint job and it doesn't seem hard for $100. But its only temporary. Sorry to let you all down, but I almost cried:icon_no2::wallbash::icon_tdow

i wasnt painting my whole car. but i was taking off some rust spots and repainting it with spray paint.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...7/IMG_0018.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...7/IMG_0018.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...7/IMG_0027.jpg

if its lil shit to hold you off til you get a full paint job i think tis alright, like front lips..

I just order my paint, from the website Icemark suggested, they mix the paint and put it in spray cans witch is great since i dont have to paint to big of parts. i will get the bumpers sides and lip painted in a body shop.

Bumpers, sides, and lips are all the easiest things to rattle can! Small flat surfaces.

Hoods and doors are the most difficult.

If you take your time, remove the panels in question, and mask everything off well you can do a great rattle can job on a car. As far as money and effort go though... it's a waste... You can buy REAL paint and rent an air compressor and do it right for way cheaper and it will turn out way better.

i live in oklahoma and have a falling apart barn you can use to build a paint booth. if you paint my car too. jk kinda. but anyway take your time i happen to have a mad max crackhead flat black fc and once the weather picks back up that car will get done quick.

I don't have time to leave my car at a bodyshop. I have an air compressor(i can't find were i said i didn't)but I don't have a paintgun. My bucket of primer has some water in it. I sold my white and black paint cans to a friend. This paintjob is just temporary guys, just until summer, I'm going to send my engine to get rebuilt, and while I have the rest of the car, I'm going to paint it. I still don't have an explanation for the wall tent I used, my troop aren't mad, they are disapointed. Weather here since my last post has been so, so. I look up at the sky and think it will rain, but its just cold, there was one sunny day, but I used it up trying to figure out my gas mileage. My car still looks bad, but I'm working on it. My bro gave me his camera.

Have you looked around your area to see if there are paint booths you can rent? There is a local military base where I live and they have an auto hobby shop. This includes a professional paint booth.

I had an Air Force friend get my car on base and we sprayed it with a single stage Mazda color. They had a gun and a compressor and I only had to supply the paint, which was roughly 200 for all the supplies (I didn't pay for it, friend had it all left over from a previous build). Only cost 20 bucks to rent the booth for a full day and night to dry. Turned out pretty good till I have enough for a proper base clear job (check sig and avatar for pics).

Call around see if you can find a place like this local to you. You may never know you might be surprised what you can dig up!

Not correct. There's multiple stage filters in *certified* facility. Junior Johnny's body shop might just blow it out a hole in the wall, but its not the way it is for people who abide by the laws. And a "junior johnny shop" would also include anyone who's spraying cars in their driveway or under trees............c'mon.

And eviromental doesn't stop at the paint exiting the gun nozzle. What do you clean your gun with at home? Where does that solvent go? I highly doubt you've got a solvent recycling system in your laundry room. What about the emissions off the paint when you mix it? Is that getting filtered? What about the dust off of the bodywork? Getting filtered through any activated charcoal?

I'm not attacking - it just jerks my chain when people think its so damn simple.

I believe California is all waterborne at this point no? They're always leading the way over there, and in Jan 2010 it will be illegal in Canada to sell solvent borne basecoats. We're making the switch over the summer.

Also, on the enviromental note, CA (among few other states I beleive) has a VOC cap. A shop is only alowed to emit so many VOC's per day. But if you're an awesome dude who has no shop and doesn't give a shit, you can buy 3 gallons of primer and spray it all in an hour in your driveway :wallbash:

Water in your bucket of primer? :lol:


If the paint job is temproary, then in all seriousness - WHY ARE YOU DOING IT? You're making more work for yourself by putting shit material on the body because it'll all be coming off when you redo it. Its one thing to paint the car properly and change things down the road, but if you're PLANNING on more at the moment, at least just do areas that concern you as opposed to covering the car in a blanket of poop that will need to be stripped off in 3 months.

Live with it, save some money, do it right the first time.

I looked around for paintbooths that I can use locally, about 80% of the shops here are like production shops, and they don't have time to let me spray my car, even when these shops are closed, they refused. The 20% that thought about it, gave an argument about the price. The lowest would let me in there for $300, which is a big rip off because I told him that if I can for cheaper I was going to just use the booth, and none of the materials. I just said no.
There are no VOC's enforced in Oklahoma yet. My primer was very runny, so I through it out. It sounds stupid to spray paint the car now and just redo it later, but to me its a try before you buy, It may look horrible, but since I want to at least practice my bodywork skills, its benefiting me. My method has changed to the roller paint. I read a bunch over the last 2 weeks and since I got all weekend, I'm doing it. Its going to rain tonight, but should clear up in the day. I understand that you guys have really good connections to places that let you paint your car, I'm just the unlucky one. Read about the paint roller one, its very fascinating. But time consuming

If you're looking to learn, don't rattle can it OR roll it.

Neither of those methods are going to teach you anything of value about body work. Other then sanding is a pain and do it right the first time.

If you want practice, pick one panel on the car, repair it and prime it with good etch primer + high build. That will teach you vastly more about body work then buying a gallon of rustoleum, mixing it with mineral spirits and rolling it all over the place. Then when you're done, do another one. By the time you're done the car it'll be summer, you'll have a wicked - long lasting - paint job in the works and you'll be learning real skills.

EDIT: Obviously its your own car, you can and will do whatever you want. I just utterly cringe that people actually think this shit is a good idea. I mean seriously :lol:

But here's the thing. You're already buying.

You don't have a spray gun right? You have any putty laying around the house? A spreader? Sandpaper? Primer? the actual paint? Yes, its all "cheap" but the $50 paint job is only a $50 paint job if you have **everything else** you'll need except the can of paint. Guys always mention "oh that charger I read about on teh intrawebs was painted for $50" BULLSHIT. He wetsanded and buffed the entire car. Trust me, try colour sanding and polishing an entire car and tell me how much compound you used. Hint - it'll be roughly one bottle (which is about $80CDN) You get what you pay for is true, and its also true that there's no fucking way to paint a whole car for $50 unless you omit about 70% of the things used to do it.

Not to mention, say you actually decide down the road you want it done right. Whether you pay someone else to do it or decide to do it yourself, you've now created EASILY 2-3 times more work then it would've been if you'd just left it alone. So instead of trying now and buying later, you're buying now and possibly buying more and more expensive work in the future. Think about it.

Ah
 

I have already done my bodywork, Its ready for paint. I have grits: 40, 80, 180, 320, 600, 800, and 1200. I have a 1 gallon can of that 3m plastic filler and hardener(1/2 size of tooth paste tube). A book of "filler paper"(like a big post-it note for mixing filler) small, medium, and large sanding blocks, body hammers, dolleys, and an air compressor. This is basically all I have to work with. Like stated before, I have no paint booth, sweet hookups, or a functioning paint gun(tip of the needle is bent). People changed my mind on this earlier to give it a shot with a gun, but it was my fault that I ruined it. I would like to try it again, but it would be while until that. I literally have all day to just paint my car. Heres a deal, If this weekend doesn't work out, I will try to get some money to buy a paint gun, and some more paint and primer. I know that 11 miles away is an airfield, that I am just going to paint my car in an airplane hanger regardless. BUT, that is if something happends this weekend restricting me from the doing it the $50 dollar way. I may result to plan B because the wind won't die down. I have to get it right the first time. I hate this weather sometimes.

i painted my Rx7 myself outside, similar to what your doing.. its not as hard as it seems. just time consuming.
took me a couple of Saturdays to get mine done.

some pics for motivation.
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Img0006_1.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...er/Img0002.jpg

Future RS, I like the Panda Rx-7

I'm painting mine black, with the roller paint, because It is $98.86 that is including the paint rollers(4) and I straight stole the plastic trays(7), and 4 cans of Satin Black Rustoleum paint. I am totally going to do this. You guys really convinced me that "its only $200 to paint your car with a paint gun and a stuff"(not exact quote), but I am not capable to re-gather all the materials to try that again. I plan to go to a bodyshop in the summer, but if something happens, than at least its a good paintjob for me. By the way its my car, I have made my ultimate decision. Spray can and roller paint job are almost even in workmanship and time.

well best of luck. just thought i would share what a drive way job can look like.

BTW i didnt even make my own booth for this job... it was done on a sunny day with a very light breeze. sure i got a couple of spots that could be better but it was quick and easy...

make sure to post up some pictures of the car when your done. if you were local i would lend a hand!

I agree..................future rs' car does look really good.

Dont paint your car with a roller. You are blaming an entire (correct) method for a poorly constructed booth and rain.

Use screws, 2x4s and the weather channel.

"Taking your time" is your friend.


john ny